SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team fell 69-60 to Augustana University Friday, January 20 at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Vikings used a 23-9 run in the third quarter to defeat the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston led 27-24 at the half, limiting Augustana to 24.3 percent from the field in the first half. The Vikings came into Friday shooting 45.3 percent as a team. Augie finished the game shooting 34.7 percent from the field.

The Golden Eagles fall to 8-11 (7-6 NSIC) with Friday's loss. Minnesota Crookston remains in fourth place in the NSIC North. The Vikings improved to 16-3 (10-3 NSIC) with Friday's win.
The Golden Eagles were led by Emma Miller (Fr., G, Albertville, Minn.), who scored 34 points on 13-of-23 from the field, and 5-of-13 from beyond the arc. Miller eclipsed 30 points for the third time in her young career. She was just five points shy of her school-record 39 points. Alex Page (So., F, Grand Forks, N.D.) chipped in 12 points and five boards. Bren Fox (R-Sr., F/C, Norwood Young America, Minn.) added six points and 13 boards. Abigail Leach (R-Jr., G/F, Wyoming, Minn.) had seven rebounds.

The Golden Eagles shot 22-of-60 from the field for 36.7 percent. They were 7-of-25 for 28.0 percent from beyond the arc. Minnesota Crookston uncharacteristically struggled at the line, going 9-of-14 for 64.3 percent. They came into the weekend as the top free throw shooting team in the NSIC.

Augustana edged Minnesota Crookston 46-42 on the glass, including 14 offensive rebounds. Lauren Sees led the way with 21 points on 8-of-16 from the field. Aislynn Duffy finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards, after being limited to four points in the first half. Aby Phipps came off the bench for 15 points. Michaela Jewett led the team with 11 boards.

The Vikings shot 25-of-72 from the field for 34.7 percent. They were just 2-of-17 from deep for 11.8 percent. They hit their free throws, going 17-of-19 for 89.5 percent.

Minnesota Crookston raced out to a 5-0 lead after Miller sank 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 8:25 left in the first quarter. Augustana got on to the scoreboard with a jumper from Duffy to trim the deficit to 5-2. A Fox bucket with just over five minutes in the frame pushed the Golden Eagle advantage out to 7-4. The Vikings trimmed the Golden Eagle lead to 9-8 with a Aby Phipps basket with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Minnesota Crookston combatted the charge with a Page triple to extend the advantage to 12-8. An Izzy Moore bucket as the first quarter expired cut the Golden Eagle lead to 12-11.

The Vikings overtook the lead 13-12 at the start of the second quarter with a pair of Lauren Sees free throws. Fox took the advantage back for the Golden Eagles quickly as she converted a jumper in the lane to make it 14-13 UMN Crookston. Minnesota Crookston went ahead 20-17 after a Miller jumper. A Phipps old-fashioned three-point play knotted the game up 20-20 with 4:11 remaining in the second quarter. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 5-0 run using baskets from Fox and Miller, along with a Taryn Frazer (Fr., G, Cass Lake, Minn.) free throw to take the 27-22 lead. The Golden Eagles went into the locker room with a 27-24 advantage on the hometown Vikings.

Minnesota Crookston opened up the third quarter as Leach found Page in the post for a pair to push the Golden Eagle lead to 29-24. The Golden Eagles widened the gap to 34-28 with a jumper from Miller. Augustana cut into the UMN Crookston edge to 34-31 on a trey with 6:58 left in the third. Augustana continued the run as they tied the game up at 35-35 with a Jennifer Aadland jumper. The Vikings overtook the Golden Eagles 37-35 with a pair of converted free throws from Michaela Jewett. Jewett hit two more with 4:23 left in the third stanza to extend the lead for the Vikings to 39-35. Jewett continued her run of points, making it seven-straight points, to give Augustana a 44-36 advantage with 1:22 left in the third. An old-fashioned three-point play from Duffy widened the gap to 47-36 with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Golden Eagles got the deficit down to 49-41 following a Miller triple. After a defensive stop, she followed it up with a floater to trim the Augustana lead to 49-43. Minnesota Crookston made it an 8-0 run as Miller sank another three-pointer to cut the advantage to 49-46 with just under eight minutes remaining in the tilt. Phipps responded with a jumper for Augustana, along with a Sees old-fashioned three-point play as the Vikings took the lead out to 55-46 with 6:39 remaining. Phipps drained another jumper to widen the gap to 57-46. However, Miller came right back with her fourth triple of the game, cutting the Augie lead to 57-49. A Miller free throw cut it to 57-51, however a Sees jumper gave Augustana the 59-51 advantage. Minnesota Crookston countered with a Lily Orazem (So., G, Onamia, Minn.) trey to cut the deficit to 59-54. The Vikings fought off UMN Crookston at the end of the game to earn the 69-60 victory.  

The Golden Eagles trek to Wayne, Neb., to face Wayne State College Saturday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m.